So here are two things that could be used as a low cost ‘motor’. First the homopolar motor. The trick here is to find a way to make these more powerful.
After reading an article from the Skoll Foundation on social entrepreneurs and the following up on the ideas of Samasourcing I do agree that there needs to be some form of help for the women, children, and refugees of the world. However, I often wonder about folks at the local level that are never really talked about right in front of us here in the US.
So what is the true function of a social entrepreneur? Are these people really looking out for the people they claim to be, or actually finding one more way to make a name for themselves and of course money for themselves. Do they really want to help the ‘less fortunate’ or just get the attention of media and win awards? I am starting to have my doubts because they almost always seem to focus outside of the United States.
So how do we really push this trend back into helping the many here first so that perhaps, just thinking here that the people helped here first then can spread their gain to others here and then move out from that point to other communities, cities, states, and then other countries.? Don’t get me wrong here, of course we should help others in other countries, but isn’t it about time we start to acknowledge that there are major problems at home and we the people without help from Washington can actually take care of these issues?
So instead of outsourcing ( really this just makes higher profits for US based companies) let’s think about ‘re-sourcing’ . This means to take similar models used like micro-financing, community co-ops, and beyond back into our country. The social entrepreneur might be surprised that they can actually help people here in the US and locally like Colorado Springs by actually thinking like social change agents instead of thinly veiled attention and money getting.
Well the powers that be in the local government of Colorado Springs has decided that the homeless are no longer allowed to live in tent cities. But what happens to these people next. The city says first a warning to move out, then jail time…Well I guess this could be a short term housing solution for some, but then what? Where do these people go?
I really would appreciate some form of comments on this. Good or Bad. We really need solutions for this, not just a sweeping under the rug short term idea. If we can raise money for things like kayak parks on the Arkansas River why can’t villages be built for the homeless?
Here is an interesting idea for low cost housing that can also have homeless people build esteem and contributing not only in the building of a home for themselves but also for a sustainable community. With the current issue of ‘tent cities’ form in the local area (Colorado Springs) and the ‘wonderful’ solution of local government to fine these people and evetually place them in jail does nothing more than create another set of issues.
Is it possible that there are some people in these groups desire homes to live in, but through a series of events beyond their control just can’t manage. I really wonder about government programs that are to help people while they instead paralyze their growth.
Think about this video and then there will be a later followup using another system that papercrete can enhance.
Welcome to the EcoLean Community blog. But why do this?
I was going to try to find several items that should be ‘low cost’. I was looking for:
1. Bleach
2.Dog Toys
3. Empty Spray Bottle
That list seems simple at first, but not…I thought I would try to save some money so I headed over to BigLots – No Bleach only detergent; Spray bottles but not the small kind I needed; No dog toys. Then I remembered being told about the dollar stores. I headed over to Dollar World – Bleach (off brand name); No dog toys; Small spray bottle. I got the bleach and spray bottle. I could not find ANY dog toys that were told to be there. MMMMMM… Very sad, I remembered another nearby dollar store and headed over there – No dog toys, No bleach, No spray bottles. Now here is the BIG problem: I headed over to a WalMart yes a WalMart… lo and behold – Clorox Bleach a dollar less that at the Dollar World, Dog toys for $1.00 and of course spray bottles for less than at the Dollar world. All relatively in decent quality…
So this blog is a result of how people that are trying to find the lowest cost items, housing, community sharing, and what I will call re-sourcing are seemingly being misled, misinformed, and misplaced.
To counteract this odd trend, I will try to present real savings, housing alternatives, community sharing ideas (for sustainable and low/no cost ways), transportation trends for low budgets, and how to reclaim services and products for new uses.
So now what? February 16, 2010
Posted by dalkoyo in Uncategorized.Tags: Colorado Springs, comments, homeless, ideas, short term, solutions
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Well the powers that be in the local government of Colorado Springs has decided that the homeless are no longer allowed to live in tent cities. But what happens to these people next. The city says first a warning to move out, then jail time…Well I guess this could be a short term housing solution for some, but then what? Where do these people go?
I really would appreciate some form of comments on this. Good or Bad. We really need solutions for this, not just a sweeping under the rug short term idea. If we can raise money for things like kayak parks on the Arkansas River why can’t villages be built for the homeless?